SOME NARROW ESCAPES 
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he opened and closed his hand rapidly, to indicate 
twinkling. About 4 a.m. a swell and breeze began 
to come in, so we got under way and stood off¬ 
shore ; then in again and landed two more of the 
natives, keeping the headman on board by their 
advice. He was then asleep, and when he awoke, 
to find himself at sea with a gale coming on, he was 
somewhat perturbed. We had arranged to run in 
again that evening, land the headman, and finish 
up our business, if the weather allowed. But the 
wind increased to a gale, so we ran round the south 
end of the island in the night, hoping to be able to 
get into soundings and anchor under the lee of the 
land until the gale moderated. The barometer was 
now 28-52. To the eastward of the island the wind 
swept down off the mountains with hurricane force, 
and, although under double-reefed sails, we were 
thrown on our beam ends, and had to down all sail 
and run before the gale under bare poles for a time, 
finally heaving to under a close-reefed foresail. 
Our Aleut guest was in a very bad way, fearing 
the vessel would be lost. He said that in a similar 
gale an American schooner had been capsized off 
the coast and all lost. I tried to reassure him, but 
he continued to pray to the Virgin (these natives 
belong to the Greek Church), and by the time the 
blow was over it had cost him thirteen and a half 
roubles, he told me, for candles which he had vowed 
to give to their Church if we came out all right. 
It was not until the 15th that we were able to get 
back to the rookery. There were not many seals 
left; we only got 235 from the natives. Our guest 
landed, and at once harnessed up his dog-team to 
go to the village, Nikolski, distant about twenty- 
